Damn, It's Cold
by kuroange1
Summary: It's winter break and what's winter without a get-together in the snow? Capture the flag becomes more of an all out snowball fight than a strategy game, and Ike finds himself alone with Karen amidst the snowy trees. An accident leads the the two of them returning home before everyone else. Rated T only for a bit of swearing (only a smidge). -Annual IkeKaren


A/N: Normally I put these at the end, but I haven't been involved in this fandom for a really long time, so just thought I'd throw that out there. A lot of this was rushed and kind of last second (sorry ;;) so the flow is kind of bad and it might not make sense. The pairing also isn't as heavily implied as it is in the past two IkeKaren fics I've written. So apologies beforehand.

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Laughter echoed all around as the snow crunched underfoot. Insults and taunts were thrown back and forth, much like the snow being flung. Kids ducked behind carefully sculpted forts, returning fire on anyone labeled the 'enemy.'

Ike gathered a handful of snow, packing it together in a neat ball before nailing Kenny right in the face. His grin was short-lived as Kyle threw a snowball his way. He barely dodged it, mumbling an apology as it hit Tweek, who was standing behind him. His brother had a good arm. Craig immediately returned fire on the redhead, taking revenge for his fallen teammate.

The younger teen rolled out of the way as a group stormed their fort. He pulled his scarf up and escaped through the chaos. Ducking through the snow being tossed, he managed to hide behind a tree without calling too much attention to himself. Everyone else was focused on the fort he had just left, and he slipped away unnoticed. He made his way over to the other team's fortress, gathering snow as he sneaked along the edges.

When he reached the fortress, the place was empty, save for the flag. "This is way too easy," he said as he walked toward the defenseless flag.

"Smart boy." Karen smirked as she peeked out from a hidden hole in the floor, snowballs poised for attack. "But not smart enough."

Ike's eyes widened as he took a quick step back. "Fuck." His reflexes let him avoid the majority of the snow shower, but Karen was unrelenting. Snow came from all directions, surrounding him as he attempted to retreat.

"Never infiltrate without a plan B." Karen laughed as she chased him out of the fort. Ruby immediately took up the defensive position after the brunette left.

The older teen chased the noirette quite a distance from the original battle field. He had attempted to lose her through the trees, but she was not so easily shaken. He weaved through the trees, taking sharp turns and hopping over fallen trunks and other plants. She stayed on his heels, and the pair of them strayed farther from the group than intended.

At last, Ike came to a stop and turned around to face her. The two were panting shallowly, and Karen had run out of snowballs during the chase. "So what now?"

The girl laughed, indicating the trees around them. "You're the one that led us here, I should be the one asking that."

He laughed along with her. "I guess that's true. But to be fair, it's your fault we're this far in."

"How is it my fault?"

"If you had just stopped chasing me, we'd both be back at the battle front."

"Please. You could have returned at any moment." She glanced around briefly, keeping an eye on the noirette when she failed to spot any other teammates. "Stop putting on airs, you must have _some_ ulterior motive for leading me here."

"Oh I wish I had teammates backing me up, but alas, I really did try to sneak in alone." He smiled sheepishly as Karen smiled.

"Is that so? You really have no foresight.." She abruptly lunged forward, tackling him to the icy snow floor.

"Whoa-!" She slammed him into a pile of snow, and he felt the cold seep in through his clothes.

"And that's for slamming one in my bro's face." She chuckled as he spluttered.

"Oh..?" He smirked back at her. "We'll see who's laughing after this!" He tried to flip her over into the pile of snow surrounding them, but she saw it coming and reacted accordingly. The two of them wrestled, and Ike pushed just a bit too hard right as Karen pulled a feint. The momentum caused the two of them to tumble a short distance, into an unstable mound of snow.

"Oh crap!" "Shit!" The two of them fell down the side of the hill as the loose snow gave way under them. They tumbled down, collecting a bit of snow as they rolled down. Their fall came to stop as they splashed into Stark's pond.

Ike sat there, dumbfounded by what just happened while Karen gasped. He was already wet from the snow, but she was unprepared for the frigid water soaking her clothes.

"D-Dammit-!" Her teeth chattered.

"I'm so s-sorry." He snapped out of it and stood up, offering her his hand.

She wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to stay warm, ignoring his hand. "I-It's fine, t-this was my fault." She tilted her head, motioning that they should get out of the water. Ike followed her out, shivering as well.

"My house is c-closer, we should warm up before we freeze to death."

"N-No shit, Sherlock.. t-thanks for the offer." She followed the noirette as he stumbled through the snow to get to his house. Their clothes immediately frosted over in the cold winter air. By the time they got to his house, the pair were shaking uncontrollably.

"I-I'm starting to f-feel numb.." Karen stuttered through chattering teeth as Ike fumbled with his keys. She could tell his fingers were feeling numb too.

When he got the door unlocked, they stumbled in and shut it behind them. Once out of the frigid air, Ike went to look for a change of clothes while Karen walked into their living room to set up the fire. He returned with two blankets and a change of clothes. "Bathroom's the first door on your right down the hall."

She uttered a "thanks" as she accepted the clothes. Ike left the blankets by the fire-place and went to prepare a warm drink for the both of them.

Karen returned a few minutes later, and curled herself up in one of the blankets in front of the fire-place. The warmth was just returning to her fingers when Ike took a seat next to her. He handed her a mug of hot chocolate, then wrapped the other blanket around himself. The two of them sat next to each other, reveling in the warmth of the fireplace in a moment of silence.

"So whose clothes am I wearing?" Karen asked, breaking the silence.

"My brother's," Ike admitted a bit embarrassingly. "He's still a bit on the lanky side, and my clothes were too big.."

"Oh.." They lapsed into another moment of silence.

The fire crackled as the two sipped at their hot cocoa. "So.." Ike was the first to break the silence, although he was at a loss at what to say.

"So.." Karen swished the remainder of her drink in her mug as she looked over at the noirette by her side. "You never did answer my question."

"What question?" A few questions raced through his head, but they probably weren't the one she was referring to.

"Why did you lead me so far away from the fort." She watched him carefully, as if waiting for a lie, ready to pounce on it the moment it left his lips.

"I.. I'm not quite sure really. Why did you follow me for so long?" He asked her in return, still pondering how exactly they came to be in this situation.

"I'm stubborn, it runs in the family." A smile graced her lips as she finished off her drink. "As for why we ended up alone in the middle of the woods, it seems even you aren't completely sure." She set down her mug, wrapping the blanket closer to herself.

"Right." He furrowed his brows slightly. It almost seemed as if she was accusing him of something, but he wasn't sure what. "I ran off, you chased after me and tackled me to the floor, then we wrestled and fell into the pond. Isn't that all there is to it?"

"Well I guess that's what happened in a nutshell, but.." Karen shifted in her blanket, trying to retain the warmth from the fire. "I guess I'm just trying to look for something more. It just seems completely unrealistic that only the two of us would end up together like this."

"Then again, I strayed pretty far from the group when trying to lose you- Wait a minute, is there something so wrong with this situation that's causing you to repeatedly question it?"

"And you aren't questioning it?" Karen raised an eyebrow. "Am I the only one who finds it strange that no one saw us leave, that we coincidentally landed in a pile of snow that crumbled and dumped us into the pond, and that the best solution was to sit by a fireplace in your house. Not to mention the fact that your parents aren't home."

Ike was about to raise a protest before he realized that the house was oddly quiet and that Kyle should have returned by now. "...Ok maybe it's a bit strange."

Karen smirked. "Somebody set us up." She wagged a finger in front of his face. "And not just somebody, but a couple of somebodies."

Ike shook his head, realizing just how unusual this set up was and seeing where Karen was going with this. "How many people do you think were in on it."

"At the very least, your brother and mine. Who knows who else they roped into this. Kenny can pretty persuasive when he wants to be."

"The same can be said about Kyle, but what do they gain from this." He watched the fire, pondering the motives as Karen leaned against him. Her eyes fell to a half lidded state as she watched the fire crackle.

"He probably wanted me out of the house and invited Kyle over. Our parents are out for the week and Kevin's at his girlfriend's place." She left it at that, there was no need to elaborate any further.

"Well that doesn't explain why my parents aren't home.." Then he remembered that they had left a note explaining that there had been an emergency and that they were going to be out for the night. "...Nevermind."

"Well, at least we're warm now. Hopefully that chill won't.. get us sick." Her head fell onto his shoulder as she yawned.

"Getting sleepy?" Ike asked, smiling as she tried to glare at him.

"Of course not.. I'm just _full_ of energy I could stay up all.. night.." Who was she fooling the fire was warm and the blanket was soft, not to mention she wasn't going to go home in the meantime.

"Says the person falling.. asleep." He yawned as well. The steady crackling of fire created a steady rhythm that encouraged sleep.

"I think you're referring to.. yourself.." Karen's eyes fell closed in an extended blink.

"It _is_ really warm now.." He couldn't help but rest his head on top of hers.

"A short nap wouldn't hurt." Karen mumbled as she let her eyes fall closed. She leaned comfortably on Ike, feeling much warmer than she had all day.

"I'll.. wake you up.. in a couple hours." Ike lied as he rested against her as well. He felt tired from a day's activities, and Karen's weight wasn't helping him stay awake either. The two of them slept peacefully until morning. Falling asleep together in front of the fireplace hadn't been a part of the plan, but neither of them complained when they woke up side-by-side the next day.

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A/N 2: Thanks for reading all the way through, hope you enjoyed this even if just a tiny bit. I'm the worst author (practically dead). On top of being extremely late this was terribly done. I'll work harder next year QQ. Merry belated Christmas everyone, hope your holiday was well spent.


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